The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1887-03-11
SOMETHING ABOUT FRET-woRK.
Money Can be Made with . Little Scroll
Sav.-Th Material Used.

Saw Ahe naLerAhl Used
There Is q great deal people don't
know about the art of fret-sawing" =" said
a well-known artist In fret-work in re-
sponse to the inquiries of a repor er,
"and people would wonder, too, II they
knew how simple it is and how It is be-
coming the fashion.
g Take for instance the latest design
of a cabinet Of fret-work. Nothing like
1t has ever been produced in the art
OF fret-sawing. Indeed it is hard to con-
ceive OF the effectiveness of the ap-
pcarance OF such an article when con
structed out of differently colored and
properly selected woods, and when you
think that it IS possible for boy to
construct Euch an article from the
pattern, you begin to realize the real
value of the fret machine.
"Such cabinet stands from the base
79 inches; T. is As inches across and
Is inches deep. The front Of the first
section Is ornAmented with panels; In
the centre of the second section are
four drawers, and at the ends folding
doors, back OF which are receptacles
for knick-knacks; the third section,
when open, forms a lady's writing desk
and the fourth, two doors open upon G
mirror, fifteen by thirty inches In size
and on either side eight small doors
which open into receptacles for lady's
toilot articles. The whole Is sur
mounted by a castellated top.
:" The pattern FOR this costs but S2
and yet this cabinet, when made up
will make as valuable an article OF
furniture as any that can be bought
at a furniture store for from 5000 to
$500. Besides the beautiful results OBJ
taineG by this WORK, there is money
in 1t.
g 1 can tell you of a case IN point.
young man who found it impossible
to obtain employment became possessed
OF q fOot-power scroll-saw and by its
aid made brackets, caTd-bas kets, match
boxes, frames and other articles, which
gave him when sold clear profit OF s5
a day.
Hundreds Of others here earned
$50 to SIS each by the sale of work
done at leisure time. More than 30 coo
fOot-pOwer scroll-ssws have been made
and sold TO parties who are now using
them for pleasure or profit, and besides
there are probably three times as
many more who use the ordinary
hand-saw.
=" From a square foot Of black walnut
l have known to be made in a few
hours handsome clock-case worth at
least So and the material costing hut ten
cents. A piece Of ebony, worth about
penny, furnished enough material for
cross for which a person would gladly
have given a couple OF dollars.
square foot OF good black walnut
Will be sufficient to make four or i've
pretty brackets which will readily sell for
80 cents each"
What about the wood that is used in
fret-work2"
''There are more kinds than you
imagine. First comes white pine, use
ful particularly for lining the bottoms
Of boxes, etc. Then there is Spanish
cedar, easily obtained from cigar boxes,
but really only suited for coarse work.
ButteTnut, also known as white walnut,
cuts clean, but is soft and not adapted
for delicate designs. Red cedar and
white juniper are both handsomely
marked, though difficult to cut success
fully, because they are pIcky. White
poplar IS very useful TO the fret-sawyer.
as also is Eastwood, furnished by the
lime tree.
but the highly ornamental goods are
black walnut, white holly, ebony, ma
hOgany, rosewood and satinwOod.
Besides these there are the tulipwood,
olive, bird 's-eye maple and Hungarian
ash"
You cut other material than wood in
fret-work?"
"Yes, there are ivory and tortoise
shell, for instance. There are two
varieties of elephant ivory, the Asiatic
and African. The latter is more Opaque
and dead white than the other.
But the hippopotamus supplies ivory
which is much harder and far moro
valuable than that of the elephant,
being of purer white and almost free
from gain.
IAN interesting fact about ivory In
connection with this work is that it
requires seasoning the same as wood
and Is very liable to crack and warp
when subjected to changes Of tempeTa-
/ ture. 1t costs S6 to 81 a OOu0d in the
rough.
Tortoise-shell can be applied to the
same purpose as ivory.
Mother-of-pearl is another Of these
choice materials that can be used by
the fret-sawyer."